Duale denies ministry switched off Murang’a’s AfyaKE system

Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has denied that his ministry switched off Murang’a County’s AfyaKE digital health platform, responding to Governor Irungu Kang’ata’s allegation of interference.

In his response reported on Thursday, 15 October, Duale said the ministry neither owns the system nor controls its source code. He described AfyaKE as an arrangement involving the county and a private developer, rather than a platform operated by the national ministry.

Kang’ata had raised concerns about the reported interruption and the potential consequences for county health services. The exchange has created a dispute over responsibility for a system used in the delivery of public healthcare.

Duale’s statement establishes the ministry’s position; it does not independently establish the technical cause of the reported disruption. Equally, the governor’s allegation is not proof that the ministry disabled the platform.

The practical questions are whether facilities can retrieve necessary records, which services have been affected and what arrangements are available while the dispute is resolved. Technical records and an account from the system operator are needed to establish what happened. No verified finding of patient-data loss is established in the material reviewed.